Kimberly has taught college Sociology and Criminal Justice classes and has a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice.

A research method is a systematic plan for doing research. In this lesson, we'll look at the definition for a research method and examine the four most common research methods used.

Research Methodology Defined

A research method is a systematic plan for conducting research. Sociologists draw on a variety of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including experiments, survey research, participant observation, and secondary data. Quantitative methods aim to classify features, count them, and create statistical models to test hypotheses and explain observations. Qualitative methods aim for a complete, detailed description of observations, including the context of events and circumstances.

Now let's take a look at each of the different research methods in detail.

The Experiment

An experiment is a research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions. When conducting an experiment, researchers will test a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a statement of how two or more variables are related. For example, let's say we wanted to examine whether studying affects a person's GPA. Our hypothesis might be: the more a person studies, the higher a person's GPA will be. In this example, studying would be the independent variable (the cause), while a person's GPA would be the dependent variable (the effect).

If we wanted to test this hypothesis, we would randomly assign subjects into two groups. The experimental group is a group of individuals that are exposed to the independent variable. The control group, on the other hand, is not exposed to the independent variable. We would require that the control group doesn't study at all, but that our experimental group has to study at least 10 hours a week. After one semester, we would then determine which group has the higher GPA. If the experimental group has a statistically higher GPA, we can assume our hypothesis is correct.

It is important to note that sometimes a change in the dependent variable could be the result of something entirely different than what was being studied (maybe, for example, those chosen for the experimental group were simply more intelligent than those in the control group). When two variables change together but neither one causes the other, we call this a spurious correlation.

Survey Research

A survey is a research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions in a questionnaire or an interview. Surveys target some population, which are the people who are the focus of research. Because populations are usually quite large, the researcher will target a sample, which is a part of a population that represents the whole.

Once our sample is selected, we need a plan for asking questions and recording answers. The most common types of surveys are questionnaires and interviews. A questionnaire is series of written statements or questions. With an interview, the researcher personally asks subjects a series of questions and gives participants the freedom to respond as they wish. Both questionnaires and interviews can include open-ended questions (allowing the subjects to respond freely), or close-ended questions (including a selection of fixed responses).

Participant Observation

The most widely used strategy for collecting qualitative data is participant observation. Participant observation is a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities. Fieldwork makes most participant observation exploratory and descriptive and has very few hard and fast rules. Unlike other research methods, participant observation can be a lengthy process. In fact, it may require that the researcher stay in the field for weeks or even months.

From a scientific point of view, participant observation lacks scientific rigor because it depends on the viewpoint of a single person. However, its personal approach is also its strength - an observant researcher can often gain important insight into people's behavior that a survey or interview cannot obtain. Observation might be overt or covert as well.

Secondary Data

Not all research requires that researchers collect their own data. Sometimes researchers analyze data that is already collected by others. Secondary data involves the use of data that was collected by someone else for some other purpose. The most widely used data are gathered by government agencies, such as the US Census Bureau or the Uniformed Crime Report. One disadvantage of using secondary data is that it may not answer the researcher's specific questions or contain specific information that the researcher would like to have. Another disadvantage of using secondary data is that the researcher does not know exactly how the data was collected or if it was collected in a systematic manner.

Lesson Summary

Sociologists draw on a variety of both qualitative and quantitative research methods:

An experiment is a research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions.

A survey is a research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions in a questionnaire or an interview.

Participant observation is a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities.

Secondary data involves the use of data that was collected by someone else for some other purpose.

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